Wednesday – Thursday:
We are in a dry pattern through Thursday. Mostly sunny Wednesday with highs into the 50s at the base and 40s up top. Partly sunny Thursday with highs in the 40s on the mountain.
Thursday Night – Saturday Systems:
The next storm is digging south and splitting as it moves into CA Thursday. That is delaying the onset of the precipitation as the flow turns southerly.
The rain and snow showers may hold off until early Friday morning. Snow levels could be slow to fall as well. Maybe starting around 7000-8000 ft. before sunrise and then falling to the base by Friday afternoon. We may only see a coating to an inch of snow at best by Friday morning on the upper mountain.
The snow showers continue into Friday and increase in intensity later Friday into Friday night as a 2nd colder system dives into the region. This is a better chance for snowfall accumulation and powdery vs wet snow. Highs drop into the 30s Friday. Ridgetop winds turn southwest and increase up to 70+ mph up top by afternoon, possibly affecting a few lifts. Light accumulations are possible during the day on the mountain.
Snow showers could continue but become more scattered Saturday with highs only in the 30s at the base and 20s up top. The winds should come down some as well. By Saturday morning we could see an additional 3-7 inches of snow on the mountain. Scattered snow showers Saturday could bring light additional accumulations during the day.
Storm total of 3-6 inches at the base and 4-9 inches on the mountain possible by Saturday evening as the storm starts to clear the region.
Sunday – Tuesday:
A drier pattern returns Sunday into the first half of next week as high pressure builds back in over CA. It starts cold Sunday with highs in the 30s at the base and 20s up top. Mostly sunny skies continue through Tuesday with highs warming into the 40s at the base and 30s up top.
Long-Range:
The long-range models disagree on whether or not the trough over the West backs over CA again by midweek with additional systems dropping down from the north the 2nd half of next week. If not the drier pattern could continue. We’ll continue to watch the trends.
The long-range forecast models also disagree on what happens the weekend of the 12th through mid-month. Some models rebuild high pressure over CA with the dry pattern continuing. Other models suggest a trough could form in the northeast Pacific off the West Coast through mid-month, which could allow storms to spin up off the coast and push in northern CA. We’ll continue to keep an eye on that as we get closer.
BA
